This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure described herein, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Betting on sporting events, challenge type games, contests, or various competitions is thought to be an activity that enhances the fun for sports fans during the actual games, challenges, or competitions because the bet represents an interest for the individual in the outcome of the game or contest. However, many individuals do not participate in this activity due to the strict restrictions placed on such betting and/or fear of not being able to recover any winnings from losing individual(s) of the bet.
In traditional betting or wagering games, the game operator generally acts as a market maker. The game operator could balance the amounts of bets and expected payout by setting and adjusting the odds that determine the payout of a bet or wager on a particular betting proposition or by adjusting the spread between the two sides of a comparative bet. For example, a game operator could increase the odds to yield a higher payout in order to attract more bets on an undersubscribed event in the betting pool. A game operator could also add or adjust a point spread to a comparative bet, i.e., adding a required performance condition to raise the winning threshold for one side in order to attract more bets to the other side. Current gaming and/or betting methods typically involve a user placing bets with the game operator or an entity that acts as the gaming house. This is true whether or not the user is betting against other users, and regardless of what the subject of the bet is. This gaming house performs various functions including the aforementioned setting odds, arbitrating, declaring winners, collecting funds, and providing payouts.
Generally, in most types of betting situations, odds are used in order to balance the amount of money bet on each team or side, so as to protect the individual or establishment taking the bet from losing money. For example, games where there is a powerful team/side taking on a weaker team/side would obviously generate more bets for the more powerful team/side. Odds are introduced to deter some of those who would place bets on the powerful team/side. These odds can be in the form of a point spread (or line), which can force the favored team/side to win by a certain amount of points or the underdog team/side to lose by less than those points, in order for someone betting on them to collect. These odds fluctuate as bets are taken, so the total amount of money bet on one team/side is the same or very close to the same as on the other team/side. Each game provider, market maker, gaming house, or sports book, which takes bets can set different odds, depending on what bets they have already taken. For a prospective bettor, the current odds for each gaming house or sports book are important because they may want to bet on a game at certain odds. Typically, in order to become aware of the lines/odds of a sports book, one must contact each game provider, gaming house, or sports book and inquire as to the current odds. By the time the individual has contacted all of the sports books and decided on one to place a bet with, the line/odds may have changed. Such a system is inefficient, ineffective, and highly cumbersome to a potential better, which can further result in potential lost winnings or prevent a potential better from even entering into a bet.
Hence, what is needed is a reliable, effective, and efficient method and system for allowing various users or potential betters to join a network exchange, wherein each user can post and set his or her odds for a given competition, contest, or game and invite other users to that competition. Moreover, what is needed is a method and system that can reliably and automatically distribute payouts on the bet winnings to a winning better without the winning better requesting payment, among others.